Rachel Thompson

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

#Author Deidre Havrelock Chats About Her Typical Day @DeidreHavrelock #AmWriting

Image of Deidre Havrelock
Give us a glimpse into a typical day in your day starting when you wake up till you lie down again.
My day is pretty boring. I get up and I pray…I then make coffee. I then crawl back into bed and either read a book or answer emails. At that point my husband leaves for work. Then I wake the kids up and get them some breakfast: yogurt, cereal and fruit. I then read some more or answer emails. I then tell my kids to get dressed. I then make lunches. (Bored yet?) I get a fresh coffee and read or answer emails. I then remind my kids to brush their teeth, and then I get the kids out the door so they can catch their rides to school. I then jump in the shower and then I work. Work entails: reading, answering emails, writing, editing, marketing, blogging, filing. I do this for the next five hours then I jump in my car and rush to begin the cycle of picking up kids and getting them to soccer, basketball or softball. When I get home, I feed everyone some kind of food I’ve managed to scrape together. Then me and my hubby go for a walk and talk about going on vacation to Greece. This is where I am right now in my life. I love being with my family. 
What's your favorite season/weather?
I like summer because I can go back to Canada to visit family. I like hot weather with a cold coffee or a Coke, which my mom says I should stop drinking because it rots my gut. (But I don’t want to stop drinking it, and I’m not going to stop using my microwave either, which Mom tells me will change the chemical structure of my food. She also says not to eat expired cake mix, but I can’t remember why.)
Who or what inspired you to become an author?
So many people: teachers, a few family members, friends, and of course the Holy Spirit. 
How did you celebrate the sale of your first book?
I forgot to do that. I’ll do that next week.
What is your guilty pleasure?
I really like movies. I like to watch three at a time and then I dream about writing a screenplay. My dad and I can watch movies like nobodies’ business…we’re not lazy—we’re studying the structure.
What TV show/movie/book do you watch/read that you'd be embarrassed to admit?
Cupcake Wars. I don’t know why I like this show…they’re just stupid cupcakes! It really makes me mad when they screw up the little fondant decorations that go on top of the cupcakes—you have to go big or go home!
Finish the sentence- one book I wish I had written is....
The Lord of The Rings, of course!
Favorite places to travel?
I imagine it would be Greece!
Favorite music?
I’m not big into music. I’ll listen to almost anything. I do like a lot of Christian music.
Which authors have influenced you most… how?
I can’t say there’s been one author who has influenced me most. I guess for the most part I get influenced by the authors that I have taken classes from. When an author is your teacher, you get these dreamy eyes and you hang on every word he or she says. I’ve had a few of those kinds of teachers.
I have also been influenced by genres. I like to read memoirs. True stories of people’s lives have always fascinated me, which is probably why I like to teach about the subject of Christian testimony. Favorite memoirs are Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes and Cartwheels in a Sari by Jayanti Tamm. But I’m also a fan of the gothic classics: Rebecca, The Monk, The Mysteries of Udolpho. If anyone is a fan of gothic they should read Art of Darkness by Anne Williams, where the male and female gothic traditions are discussed.
I could talk about the gothic genre for hours.
My favorite Christian book is Surprised By The Voice of God, by Jack Deere. (Read my book and you’ll understand why.) I also liked The Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila. And another favorite of mine is Scivias by St. Hildegard…it’s a book of visions that nobody has probably read.
In your wildest dreams, which author would you love to co-author a book with?
I’d like to write with Margaret Atwood—can you imagine? That would be awesome! Half the book would be great and the other half would be written by me!
What are your current literary works?  Any sneak peaks?
I’m currently working to finish part two of my memoir Saving Mary: The Deliverance. The story of how I got myself unpossessed. To prepare for this book, I contacted a bunch of my friends from high school, including most of the ones who were present the day I became possessed (which happened during a transcendental meditation session). None of them were surprised that I had become possessed on that day. My friend Winston remembers us being told to imagine an “egg made of pure light” to protect ourselves with (which obviously didn’t work for me). The first thing my friend Rose said was, “I thought you’d be a Satanist by now.”
My friend Doug (who also became obsessed with the spirit world) actually went to the same elementary school as me, and he’s in the picture on the front cover of my book, Saving Mary: The Possession (only he’s to the far left, so you can’t see him). His story of getting out of the occult is probably more fascinating than mine and maybe one day he’ll let me tell it!
 What is your favorite scene in the book and why do you love it?
My favorite scene in my memoir Saving Mary: The Possession is at the beginning of the book when I’m in my room playing barbies and suddenly my dad screams out bloody murder, making my mom sprint down the stairs to save him. I like this part because my dad remembers the event so well. While lying on the couch, a tall and extremely thin man appeared to him; the spirit pointed one of its long bony fingers at him as if to say, “You’re coming with me.” My dad says he had never been so terrified in his life. (This event is also described in Living…The Testimony.) The spirit my dad describes, by the way, sounds exactly like the spirit I call Fred (in my memoir)…who appeared to me in my dreams.
Even though this isn’t a great memory for us, my dad and I feel connected through the event. The fact that we both saw the same spirit helps us to feel not so odd…or crazy.
Living the testimony

We testify in accordance with what we know and have experienced.
…It’s time to learn and experience more!

The first book in this thought-provoking series explained how testimony relates to the Bible; this book will help you understand how testimony relates to living. Living…The Testimony will not only encourage Christians to reflect on who they believe Jesus to be (and why they choose to believe this), but it will also correct current misconstrued ideas as to what the Christian testimony is all about.

- a testimony is not about church;

- a testimony is not about God;

- a testimony is not about faith in general terms;

- this book contains numerous testimonies that will strengthen your faith in Jesus.

A strong Christian testimony is one that continually grows in the knowledge of Jesus, continually shares that knowledge boldly, while at the same time performs good works based on Jesus’ teaching of love—all while abstaining from works of darkness.

Because a biblical testimony deals not only with our belief system, but also with the way we conduct our whole lives, our Christian testimony becomes our most valuable asset. It is life itself.

Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Christian Living
Rating – G
More details about the author
Connect with Deidre Havrelock on Twitter
This book will be on sale for $0.99 during the tour

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